Players can now work together to take down the biggest, most powerful Pokemon and earn some fantastic rewards. The new Raid Battle system brings a whole new element to the game, and we’re sure you have some questions about how it works and more. So here is a little guide on everything you need to know about these raid battles.

When Can You Raid?

The raid battle system has seen a gradual roll-out, but now trainers are able to participate in raid battles when they hit level 25.

Where Can You Find Raid Battles?

As there have been new features introduced to the game, it makes sense there have been changes made to Pokemon GO’s UI menus. Finding a raid is just as easy as finding new Pokemon. You will get notified when a nearby raid is happening. You can also check the Nearby Menu as a new tab has been added to show you whereabouts nearby raids are.

The Nearby menu shows raids just as it shows nearby Pokemon

When you approach a gym that is getting ready to raid, a colored egg appears above it. There will also be a visible countdown timer. When the timer reaches zero, the egg will hatch and reveal the raid boss. This is when the raid begins.

Still quite a while until this raid begins

How Do You Join a Raid?

Once the eggs has hatched, you have an hour to battle the Pokemon. You can either join the raid as a private group with your friends or you will join a world battle with many other players, with up to 20 trainers in a raid group. Multiple raid groups can battle the boss at one time.

To get into the raid, you need to get a Raid Pass or a Premium Raid Pass. The regular Raid Pass can be found when you spin the photo disc at the gym. You can only hold one Raid Pass at a time and can only hold one a day. If you come across another gym you want to raid and have already used your one Raid Pass for that day, you can buy a Premium Raid Pass from the shop for 100 pokecoins.

To enter the raid, you need to:

Tap the gym when the raid battle has started Choose whether you want to join in a private or public group Use your raid pass Choose six Pokemon you’d like to take into the raid with you.

Then let the battle begin!

You need a raid pass to battle

Battling in Pokemon GO

Battling in the raid is just like battling in a gym. Tap to attack, tap and hold to use your special attack, and swipe the screen to dodge. However, in raids, you can flee the battle and then heal or revive your Pokemon and then go back into it.

If you are not able to destroy the boss in the raid group you are currently in, you are able to join another raid group on the same boss as many times as you want until you defeat the boss and the timer runs out.

You won!

Well done! You have defeated the raid boss, so what does it get you? Once the boss has been defeated, you will be given a number of Premium Pokeballs. These are new pokeballs that can only be used on the raid boss. Yes, that’s right! You now have the opportunity to catch the raid boss! You can only use these Premium Pokeballs to get raid bosses, but you can still use any berries you want to make the catch easier. 

Let’s catch that Dragonite boss!

As well as the premium balls, you can also win these special items from raid bosses in Pokemon GO:

Golden Razz Berries: These will work just as the normal razz berries work in that they increase the likelihood of being able to catch Pokemon, but they can also be used in raids to recover motivation. Rare Candies: Rare Candies can be used on any Pokemon. It will change to the candy color relevant to the Pokemon you use it on. One rare candy equals one normal candy. Technical Machines (TM): These come in two varieties: Fast and Charged. TMs will permanently teach a new fast or charged attack.

We hope that this raiding guide helps all you out in PGO! We’d love to hear about your Pokemon GO raiding experiences. Have you managed to catch a rare pokemon yet? Comment below and tell us!

Make sure you check out our other Pokemon GO guides, too, and check back to GameSkinny for all your Pokemon GO related news and developments!